This blog provides delicious,traditional, vegetarian, South Indian Recipes from my mother Chitra Amma's kitchen. There are few 'world recipes' as well!
Thanks to Shravan, Pranav, Akash, Tara, Guggs, Shankari, Adu, Dhrithi, and Appa Ramachandran for the photos!

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Saturday, February 27, 2016

Summer is the time when our appetite goes down especially for spicy curries. Thair Pachadis or yogurt based cold salads are ideal side dishes for hot days. Thair Pachadi not only soothes the parched tongue but also cools down the entire digestive system. Adding Boondi (fried droplets of batter) to the Pachadi makes it more delicious and nutritious.

Though store bought Boondies will serve the purpose, home made Boondies are best. Boondies can be prepared in bulk and stored in airtight containers so that they can be utilized whenever required.

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE BOONDI

Bengal gram flour/ Besan - 2 cups

Rice flour - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Oil for frying

METHOD

1.Thoroughly mix all the ingredients together adding one spoon of hot oil.

2. Add water little by little and make a smooth and thick batter similar to dosa batter.

3. Heat oil in a kadai.

4. Hold a large perforated ladle (known as jarini in Tamil), about 4 to 5 inches above the hot oil.

5. Pour one ladle of batter on the perforated jarini and gently tap the rim using a spoon so that the batter falls in small droplets (boondies) into the hot oil.

6. The boondis will rise to the top immediately. Reduce flame and fry them till they stop sizzling and turn into a golden brown colour.

7. Remove the cooked boondies using another perforated ladle and drain them on a paper towel.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Instant foods, take away foods and a taste for world foods have pushed home made traditional dishes virtually to the back seat in modern days.The traditional ThavalaiDosai is one among the list of dishes which is not prepared very often. The present generation of youngsters crack jokes by punning the name 'Thavalai' and refer to the dish as Frog Dosai! Thavalai is the name of a traditional wide mouthed heavy vessel made of brass or bronze which was used in large scale cooking in olden days. The LAI in Thavalai Dosai is pronounced similar to the English word 'lie' meaning recline. Unfortunately there is no phonetic sound in English to pronounce the 'lai' in Thavalai which means Frog in Tamil thus giving rise to wisecracks!

Now coming to the recipe of the delicious and nutritious Thavalai Dosai -

INGREDIENTS

Rice - 1 cup

Green gram dal/ split Moong dal - 1/3 cup

Split Pigeon peas/Tur dal - 1/3 cup

Bengal gram dal/Chana dal - 1/3 cup

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Black gram dal/Urad dal - 1/2 cup

Salt - 1 1/2 tsp

Oil - for roasting and seasoning

TO MAKE THE BATTER

1.Wash and drain rice and spread it on a kitchen towel to dry.

2. Wash and soak Urad dal for an hour.

3. Pulse Tur dal, Chana dal and Moong dal together in a mixer till you get a coarse powder.It should resemble fine sand. Add cumin seeds in the final round so that they get crushed.

4. Pulse the drained and dried rice similarly into a coarse powder using the mixer.

5.The dry lentil powder will absorb lot of water while soaking. Hence the batter will become very thick. Add enough water and mix well to get a dosa batter consistency.

TO PREPARE THE THAVALAI DOSAI

1. Grease a heavy bottomed pan or a tava using sesame oil since tavalais are scarcely used in modern kitchens. Cut an onion into half and use the cut side to rub oil thoroughly on the surface of the pan.

2. Heat the greased pan and pour one ladle of the Thavalai Dosai batter in the center. Gently lift up the pan and swirl it so that the batter spreads out into a round dosai. Or you can gently spread it using the bottom of a ladle.

3. Dribble sesame oil liberally around the dosai and cover the pan with a lid.

4.Cook the Thavalai Dosai on medium flame for two or three minutes.

5. Remove lid and check if the top is cooked.

6. Gently loosen the golden edge using a spatula and remove the Thavlai Dosai on to a plate. The top of the flavoursome Thavali Dosai will be steam cooked and soft, while the bottom will be crisp and crunchy.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Herbs rich in nutritional and medicinal properties flourished in home gardens long time ago. Some were made into chutneys, some other keerais were cooked along with lentils. Some were used in the making of hair oil and bath powders at home. Be it cough, cold, digestive upsets, skin rashes, bumps, swellings, open wounds or any other malady there was always a herb in the garden which came in handy to alleviate the symptom. All these wonderful herbs / weeds are vanishing gradually from our urban spaces, thanks to the vertical growth of residential spaces. Useful medicinal weeds do not have a place in the modern landscapes where the focus is mostly on green lawns and ornamental plants. On the other hand it is heartening to know that many youngsters have taken to growing herbs organically in pots.Gardens of medicinal plants (Moolikai Vanams)have sprung up in many urban areas to conserve the treasure of endemic plants and herbs. An interest to learn about grandma's medicine using native herbs is also gradually catching up.

Various medicinal properties and health benefits are attributed to the garden weed called Puliarai Keerai /Huli Soppu. Here is a recipe for a lip smacking chutney using Puliarai Keerai (Huli Soppu in Kannada).

Chitra Amma's Recipes

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Hello

Welcome to Chitra Amma's Kitchen.

I am Dibs. I am a born Foodie. I love to cook; love to eat; love to feed folks who appreciate good food. Blogging provides me a great way of documenting my mother, Chitra’s recipes, as a ready reference irrespective which time zone I live in. Amma honestly makes the best food I've ever had, and somehow, the anecdotes she tells us, make the dishes taste all the better.Most posts here are written by my mother Chitra. It’s her recipes, along with related reminiscences of people, places and anecdotes. She writes, I post!What started for a lark, has now become a serious hobby, drawing in participation from the whole family. My father, S.R. Ramachandran has started clicking away every dish made at home! Aunts, cousins, siblings, contribute to photos, and ask for recipes.We try to illustrate implements such as utensils, grinding stones and so on from the ‘pre-electric-mixer’ days wherever possible. We hope this will make an interesting read for future generations, on how food was cooked in earlier times!The site is still in its infancy, and slowly evolving, as our skills improve! We invite your comments, ideas, and questions, and will attempt answering them.

Thank you for your visit, and we hope you enjoy your stay at Chitra Amma’s Kitchen.